Advance Wars:Rebellion
by Evangelion999
Summary: (Chap 4) The battle with Asmodan is over but the stage is set for the battle at Korensky outpost against not one, but three Silver Meteor COs.
1. Rebellion

Chapter 1: Rebellion  
  
Another volley of rockets bombarded the Orange Star lines. The situation was turning from bad to worse as a dozen bulky Medium style tanks rolled over the hills surrounding Korensky Outpost. The highest ranking officer at the base was one Artillery Commander Renten, whom outside of simulators had no real combat experience.   
  
"Bring the tanks around the left flank! Get our artillery into firing position!" Renten yelled. He wiped the sweat from his brow and ran to the phone inside his office. He dialed a quick number.  
  
"This is Korensky Outpost, we are under attack from--" Before Renten could finish his sentence, a rocket collided with the room he was in, and he was no more.  
  
The phone rang twice before Locke rolled out of bed and answered it.  
  
"Hello?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up," oh you're kidding me. No? I'll be there right away." Locke threw on a pair of slacks and a white T-shirt with the Orange Star logo on the back. Somehow, the Orange Star advisor assumed his week was about to get a lot more complicated.  
  
Locke was ready and in the Situation Room in ten minutes. Nell had a projector set up and Andy, Max, and two others filed in. Locke turned around to see who the others were. In the doorway stood Hawke and Lash. Black Hole had reformed since the end of the war, and even though Adder and Falk had deserted, it had a strong military presence and capable leadership.   
  
"Hawke and Lash are here on business and figured they could help out," said Nell," Down to business, forty minutes ago Korensky Outpost came under attack from forces with no apparent allegiances or country markings. The enemy forces consisted of approximately two dozen mobile rocket units and upwards of a dozen Medium tanks." Locke and the other CO's studied a projection of the area surrounding while Nell and Hawke talked quietly.   
  
"We'll make three teams, Sami will be en route from a nearby base shortly and meet us there," said Nell," Locke will take one team, Hawke another, and I'll take the last team." The CO's separated into teams. Locke's team consisted of Lash and Andy, Nell's was Max, and Hawke would pair with Sami when she arrived.   
  
"Are we ready to move out?" asked Locke.  
  
"We should be home by dinner," said Andy," then we can party!" Locke and Hawke sighed in unison.  
  
"They've retreated into the mountains sir," said a soldier saluting his superior.  
  
"I'm aware," said the Rebel CO. The Rebel CO was wearing a heavy looking Kevlar vest, black and white combat camouflage, and kept his face his nose and face below that covered in a tight black veil. Over his right arm he wore a long glove that went up to his elbow. His hair was not white or grey, but more of a shiny platinum, and it hung wildly around his head down to his shoulders.   
  
"Move our forces into hiding within the ruins of the base, their reinforcements will arrive by nightfall," said the CO.  
  
"How do you know sir?" asked the soldier.  
  
"One of them called for reinforcements…I could feel it, the 37th rocket killed him," said the CO.  
  
"Uhh…right away," said the soldier, wondering if the CO really knew what killed the man or if reinforcements would even arrive. Asmodan grinned beneath his veil, he knew many things the soldier would never know.  
  
The sound of the chopper's rotors was dulled inside the vehicle itself but still loud enough to be an annoyance.   
  
"Hey Hawke," Locke said, leaning toward the larger man," What brought you to Orange Star today?"  
  
"Paper signing," Hawke said shortly," You wouldn't like it. There are many cannons you missed during the war, and Black Hole is still switching from military to civilian productions and we don't have the man power to disassemble them all without Orange Star's help." Locke nodded and leaned back in his seat. A door upfront slid open and the co-pilot leaned out.  
  
"Touch down in 10 minutes people, be ready." He went back to his seat and slid the door shut.  
  
Asmodan turned his head in the direction of the copter.   
  
"Hawke," he said," we will meet at last." He laughed. It was no normal laugh, it echoed evil and reflected deeply the disturbed nature of the CO.  
  
The female CO flipped back her red hair and tied her signature head band into place. She loaded the last chain of ammo into its place on the jeep.  
  
"Everyone ready?" she shouted. A reply of 'Yes ma'am' echoed unanimously about the base.  
  
"Allright then, move out!" she shouted. With that, a dozen tanks and even more jeeps and APC's spurred to life and took of down the highway toward Korensky Outpost. The trip would be about three hours long, and the other CO's would beat her by a good half hour.  
  
"Load your guns now people, I have a feeling we're going to arrive in the middle of the party," Sami said, loading her own weapon. The soldiers nodded and did as they were told.  
  
"Sami," a voice came over the intercom," are you there."  
  
"Yeah," she said grabbing the speaker.  
  
"Hawke has switched vehicles and will meet you halfway, understand?"  
  
"Hawke? Like Black Hole Hawke?" she said, not sure she was hearing right.  
  
"Affirmative, the Black Hole CO's will be assisting us in this operation," said Nell. Sami looked back to the soldiers in her APC. They were wearing odd looks. Now they were working with Hawke, the man they had fought against just months before. It didn't make much sense to the new recruits who had been in training, hearing rumors of the unbeatable CO Hawke. The older soldiers knew that an enemy could become a valued ally though.  
  
"Rodger that, we are en route, Sami out," she put the speaker back on its holder. Roughly and hour and a half later, the Orange Star convoy met up with several Black Hole APCs.  
  
"CO Hawke here," Hawke said from his Black Hole APC.  
  
"Sami here…nice to have you along?" Sami said, still skeptical.  
  
"I assume from the hesitation you are wary about working along side me, be thankful you got me instead of Lash, I won't talk much," he said. Surprised at even herself, she laughed at his joke, knowing it was true.  
  
The teams had each split onto different APCs and the copter had returned to Orange Star HQ. As Hawke had predicted, Lash was talking incessantly.  
  
"So for the shielding on the Black Cannons was made out of…" Lash rambled on about her various inventions to Locke. Andy, from the other side, was talking about various parties he had gone to and girls he had met. Locke shut both out, wondering how he would put up with it the rest of the way. In his meditation, he heard something. A high pitched buzzing sound could be heard, apparently only by him.  
  
Rocket, he though immediately. He dashed to the front of the APC.  
  
"Swerve! Incoming fire!" he yelled at the driver. The driver, though hesitant, did as he was told. True to his word, a rocket collided near the APC. The vehicle turned over, though it wasn't destroyed as it would have been. Dozens more rockets barraged the convoy and the APCs were abandoned. The Orange Star forces fell back into the forests along the road.  
  
"The diversion worked?" said Asmodan," They took refuge in the forest, as I predicted?"  
  
"Yes sir," said the same soldier from earlier.  
  
"Good, bring our tanks out of hiding, I have a better plan," he said," Arrange the tanks to face the south…intel said a second convoy would be arriving in an hour. They will have no reinforcements for a day or two." The soldier scurried off to do his work and Asmodan turned south.  
  
"Time to see who was really better suited, Hawke." 


	2. Silver Meteor

Chapter 2: Silver Meteor  
  
Hawke had an uneasy feeling in his stomach, something a man of his skill and confidence rarely got. He knew something was coming up ahead and it was something he felt he didn't want to have to fight. He headed to the front of his APC and picked up the radio.  
  
"Sami," he said," are you there?" There was only static for a second.  
  
"Yeah, here."  
  
"Have you heard from the rest of your convoy?" he asked.  
  
"No, we can't get through to them, is something wrong?" Sami answered. Hawke considered his response for a second.   
  
"No, I'm sure they're fine."  
  
***  
  
Machine gun fire flew past Locke's head as he dove for cover in the trees and bushes. He reached for his sidearm, a small 9mm and returned fire the best he could. He couldn't be sure if he hit anything or not. Lash hit the deck next to him. She had a small map out and was frantically tracing lines.  
  
"What's that?" Locke asked over the sound of gunfire.  
  
"I'm plotting trajectories," she answered.  
  
"For what?" Locke shouted.  
  
"Angle up 12 degrees!" Lash shouted," put power at 67%. Fire!" A sound like a torpedo launching could be heard. A white ball about the size of a basketball flew over the Orange Star forces and landed in the rebel's ranks. It exploded, taking dozens of rebel soldiers with it.  
  
"What was that?" asked Locke. The shooting had stopped.  
  
"Leftovers from a laser," Lash answered," figured I'd do something useful with them. Andy and Max were making their way to the spot Locke had chosen for hiding.  
  
"Shootings stopped!" exclaimed Andy.  
  
"Thanks for the update," said Locke sarcastically.   
  
"Nell thinks they're just reorganizing," said Max. Locke stopped and thought for a minute, this was his call to make.  
  
"Hey Lash, can we give them another blast of that mortar?" he asked. Lash got up and walked back to the few soldiers that had followed her. She flipped open a panel on the mortar. It was about as tall as she was, and looked like a grenade launcher mounted on a tripod. She shook her head.  
  
"Nope, the circuits are fried, I can have it fixed soon though." A strategy began to formulate in Locke's head.  
  
"Max, take a squad of infantry around their left, Andy take one around the right, Nell, Lash, and I will stay here to watch the rest of the troops. Report back in a half hour or so."  
  
***  
  
Classical music filled Asmodan's command tent. His eyes were shut and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. The only evidence against this was the way his hands moved at every strong beat in the music. A soldier entered the tent. Asmodan's eyes snapped open, startling the soldier.   
  
"Sir…we've lost contact with the squad we sent," the soldier said.  
  
"What? How?"  
  
"The lines are open, we think they're just reorganizing or something, maybe their radioman is among the dead from a skirmish?"  
  
"Indeed, how much longer until our guests arrive?" asked Asmodan.  
  
"The recons at Shuri Pass spotted them several minutes ago," said the soldier.  
  
"We will start the game at Shuri," said Asmodan," take over the factories there and ready my jeep."   
  
"Sir, we shouldn't leave this--"  
  
"GO!" yelled Asmodan, his black veil extending as he yelled. In less than ten minutes, Asmodan's jeep was ready and he began the drive to Shuri, about twenty minutes south of the encampment. The drive was boring but he arrived to see his order carried out. Whatever the north most factory of Shuri city had been producing, it no longer was. The rebel troops were pouring out into the city, taking up firing positions in office buildings and the like. Citizens were already being put to work in the factory or other places. The phone inside Asmodan's jeep rang. He answered it.  
  
"Asmodan."  
  
"Asmodan, show them the soldiers of the Silver Meteor rebels mean business. Do not lose Shuri city."  
  
"Of course sir, I will crush their CO's that come from the south, then finish off those coming from the west," said Asmodan.  
  
"Just incase, I'm sending Fleres to assist you, she is most eager to test her combat mettle," said the man on the other end of the phone.  
  
"Fleres? I don't want a green CO, can't you send someone else? Reletan maybe?"  
  
"No, Fleres is the only available CO, deal with it Asmodan, or I will throw you out as quickly as I took you in."  
  
"Of course sir." How could the boss do this? Send Fleres of all people. She would spend more time flirting than fighting. The seventeen year old Fleres was a Black Hole drop out but had quickly been found and trained by Silver Meteor for their rebellion. And a seventeen year old she was, thought Asmodan. She spent as much time flirting with the soldiers as she did commanding them. At least Reletan could keep his head in the game, most of the time.  
  
"Captain Mercson, where are you?" Asmodan shouted.  
  
"Here sir!" a figure hung slightly out a window on the top floor of the factory. Asmodan hurried up to the top floor.  
  
"Sir," Mercson saluted," our troops are in the process of capturing a second factory. They also report several Orange Star soldiers on leave here have been taken hostage."  
  
"Good, have them brought here."  
  
***  
  
Sami and Hawke's convoy halted about a mile out of Shuri city.  
  
"There's activity in the city," said Hawke to Sami. They had both left their APC's and were surveying the city.  
  
"It's a city Hawke, of course there's---"  
  
"No, look," Hawke pointed to a specific building. Bright flashes could be seen inside the windows.  
  
"Gunfire, damn, they beat us here," said Sami.  
  
"I think they've been here for a while," said Hawke.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Even Black Hole had been infiltrating the other countries for months under the guise of tourists or business men, planning where to build our pipes and place cannons," said Hawke," We must also assume for this to go unnoticed there is a mole of some sort."  
  
"We can't get paranoid, it'll throw off our judgment."   
  
"True, but prepare your troops to move, I don't think they expected you to drive your convoy ahead so quickly. We can catch them off guard."  
  
***  
  
Andy and Max had returned with their reports to Nell and Locke.  
  
"They're gone, I think Lash's shot got their radioman so they left quick like to report back to their leader," said Max.  
  
"Nice shot then," said Locke," but we gotta chase them down before they get back."  
  
"Should we get the troops ready then?" asked Andy.  
  
"Yeah." The CO's returned to their troops and were quickly ready to move out. In only a matter of minutes they had the enemy is sights again.  
  
"They're moving slow," comment Nell.  
  
"Maybe they have more wounded than we anticipated. Even on foot they should be moving faster than this though," said Locke.  
  
"What do you think is wrong?"  
  
"Again, maybe they have wounded, but keep sharp, this maybe an ambush." The OS convoy would be on the rebels in several minutes at this rate.  
  
"How far to you think we are away from Korensky Outpost?" asked Locke.  
  
"Thirty miles maybe," said Max.  
  
"Hey," said Lash," Your tanks are on the radio!" Nell grabbed up the radio.  
  
"Nell here," she said.  
  
"Yeah, we lost you there for a while but couldn't really fit into the small path the APCs had taken," said the head tank pilot," We are going to be at the clearing of the forest area momentarily, anything we should know?"  
  
"Yes, there's a small enemy group headed out that way, maybe a hundred and fifty soldiers. See what you can do about it before we get there," said Locke, who had grabbed the radio from Nell. Nell grabbed it back.  
  
"What he said, also see if you can get some IR scans of the forest, we think there may be more in hiding," said Nell.  
  
"Right away ma'am."  
  
***  
  
Hawke stared at the city.  
  
"Ready the first barrage!" he yelled as several Black Hole tanks moved into firing position.  
  
"Fire!" A dozen shells headed for the city at top speed,  
  
"That should throw them off," said Sami.  
  
***  
  
"Sir, we are under attack!" said Mercson. Asmodan laughed. His laugh was unnerving and filled the room with discomfort and tension.  
  
"Move our forces into attack position, time to fight Mercson." Asmodan climbed up an access ladder in the hall to the roof. He surveyed the enemy forces moving up to the city. He laughed again. It echoed through the city. 


	3. To Battle Again

Chapter 3: To Battle Again  
  
"How are we going to do this?" asked Sami," we should have figured it out before we started toward the town."  
  
"I want you to start retaking buildings and sniper positions, I'll have my tanks keep any artillery off your men's backs," said Hawke. A dozen Black Hole tanks continued their steady drive toward Shuri. Twice that number of Orange Star jeeps containing Sami's best men followed closely behind, using the tanks as shields from the return fire that was beginning to hit the convoy lines.  
  
"Third formation, protect the jeeps, aggressive tactics!" Hawke shouted. In no time flat, the tanks shifted formation. Two V-shaped walls of six tanks led the way into Shuri for the OS jeeps. Another volley of shells flew from the cannons on the tanks and the Silver Meteor mech lines fell back into the city.  
  
***  
  
"Sir, they've entered the city, our mech lines are over run!" shouted Mercson up the ladder to Asmodan.   
  
"I see, let them get their foot hold in the city, it will be easier to destroy them," said Asmodan. He slid down the ladder back into the makeshift control room.   
  
"Ready a rocket unit on the roof," said Asmodan.  
  
"What? On the roof? That's totally impractical!" Mercson said.  
  
"Do it, it is the perfect firing position," Asmodan said testily. Mercson quickly dialed down to the factory and ordered a single rocket unit be dismantled and taken up to the roof.  
  
"Tell me when it is ready," said Asmodan.  
  
"Is that all sir?"  
  
"No, take your finest men and give them a warm welcoming, mech units, they brought tanks."  
  
"Of course sir."  
  
***  
  
Sami's soldiers were pouring into the streets from the jeeps. Due to routine practice, they had a makeshift artillery line consisting of RPG launchers and a turret line consisting of a three dozen SAW machine guns. If there was a CO who knew the value of well armed infantry, it was Sami. Hawke had gone off with three of his tanks to scout ahead, the other nine remained at the base camp.  
  
"Captain Duren, take your squad and check that building, Captain Koren, take that one," Sami pointed at two buildings on opposite sides of the base camp.  
  
"If their clean?" asked Duren.  
  
"Call back for snipers," answered Sami. The two captains gathered their men and left.  
  
"Hawke here," sputtered the radio," anyone listening?"  
  
"Sami here."  
  
"I have found a group of tanks being refueled and rearmed but do not have enough fire power to cover the protection around the fueling zone, tell five of the tanks I left to meet me at these co-ordinates." A number flashed on the screen of the laptop hooked to the radio. Sami relayed the orders and five of the nine remaining tanks rolled out.  
  
"Hurry back, that leaves us almost defenseless against heavier fire," said Sami.  
  
"Will do, I will crush them."  
  
***  
  
In several minutes, the back up tanks had arrived. Hawke gave a go order and eight tanks rolled around the corner near a quick stop store and opened fire on the refueling station. Bright orange and red explosions filled the air as gasoline and ammunition was caught in the shells' shrapnel and explosions. The first rounds of return fire came from several mech units who had been missed by the shockwaves or fires. One of Hawke's tanks went down and incurred minor damages, though nothing major. The tanks' machine gunners popped the tops open and returned fire on the troops. Most went down with no hassle but several managed a second round of return fire. Another volley of shells finished the refueling station.  
  
"Something is wrong," said Hawke.  
  
"What sir?" asked one of his subordinates.   
  
"A refueling station should have been more heavily guarded," he answered," either this is secondary station or this was a bait for us to draw tanks away the base camp."  
  
"Why did we need more tanks?"  
"I wasn't sure of the status or number of tanks in the station, we could only see the front part, but the combat ready tanks were destroyed in our first volley," said Hawke.  
  
"You think it was a trap?" asked the soldier.  
  
"Possibly, hurry back," said Hawke. The seven remaining tanks set back to the base camp.  
  
***  
  
"The rocket is finished sir," said a tech.  
  
"Good," Asmodan climbed up the ladder to the roof," Bring me extra ammunition." The tech scurried back down the factory to have ammo hauled up. Asmodan slid the first rocket pack into the launcher. Each five pack was almost enough to destroy a tank that was unshielded by cover and Asmodan knew of seven such tanks from video surveillance taken near the mock fueling station. He looked at other videos being taken from around the city and being displayed on a monitor he had brought with him. He studied the locations of the tanks intently. He angled the rocket launcher toward the base camp and fired the first rocket. It screamed through the air and after several seconds, Asmodan could see a bright orange explosion followed by a second, larger explosion. This signaled he had destroyed one of the wounded tanks. He laughed and began to reload the launcher.  
  
***  
  
"Split off into side alleys!" shouted Hawke his tanks turned frantically off the main road they had been on.  
  
"Sami," Hawke said over the radio," getting back will take longer, we are under fire from a rocket launcher in unknown location, see if your men can get a fix on it."  
  
"Right, will do," said Sami. She ordered her Duren's team to watch for rocket fire and for Koren's team to move up to the next set of buildings. A second rocket was fired.  
  
"Commander Sami," radioed Duren's sniper," I think the rocket fire is coming from the factory on the other end on the north side of town, if I adjust my scope I'll be able to see it better from the next set of buildings."  
  
"Move up with Koren's team," said Sami. From seemingly nowhere, a deep rumbling could be heard.  
  
"Oh I hope that's not what I think it is," muttered Sami," RPG's into position!" The soldiers carrying the RPG's spread out. In seconds, a fearsome looking tank rolled around the corner. It was nothing Sami had seen before. By its looks, it was less armed than one of BlackHole's NeoTanks, but more armed than a Medium tank.   
  
"What is that?" Sami heard one of the troops mutter.  
  
"Open fire!" she screamed. A dozen rocket propelled grenades barraged the tank, doing only minor damage. The tank unleashed a shell. The explosion killed three of the RPG carriers and two more died from shrapnel. A small ammo cache went up in the explosion, killing several techs not involved in the combat. Sami screamed for the men to move. They ducked into separate buildings, four went left to Duren's and three went right, to Koren's old building. Sami ran with the smaller squad. Apparently uninterested in the RPG-less soldiers, the tanks gunner began firing into the buildings with a large caliber machine gun. Sami peered through an untargeted window.  
  
"Damn, that gun is controlled from inside the tank," she said.  
  
"If that's the case, there has to be a camera or something on the outside," said one soldier while he reloaded his RPG.  
  
"Yeah," Sami muttered. She flashed a hand signal to a soldier in the other building. 'Waiting for orders' he signed back. She nodded.  
  
"Carter! Carter!" she said in the radio she had grabbed.  
  
"Here," said the sniper.  
  
"We're under attack," she said.  
  
"Yeah we thought we heard something up here," he said," what do you need?"  
  
"This tank's gun in controlled from the inside, can you see if there's a camera or something on the outside?" she asked. Carter agreed and headed up to the roof of the building he was on. He kneeled down and looked through the scope. After thirty or so seconds he radioed back to Sami.  
  
"I think this tank is a prototype," he said.  
  
"Why so?"  
  
"There's holes in the armor on this side," he said. A shot rang out from his .22. A scream was heard from inside the tank.  
  
"That got their attention," he said, lining up a second shot with a different hole.  
  
***  
  
Asmodan chuckled," Hope this gets your attention." He pressed fire on the launcher and a rocket screamed towards Carter's position. Carter was killed almost instantly and the roof caved in on the top floor. Asmodan laughed and began to reload the launcher.  
  
"Like taking candy from babies," he said, even at the risk of sounding cliché. He began to load another shot when Mercson came on the radio.  
  
"Sir! Black Hole troops are everywhere! The snuck up on us real fast like!" he said.  
  
"Damn," muttered Asmodan. I didn't sense a thing, he added silently to himself.   
  
"Fight back then, I will be down in a moment!"  
  
***  
  
Sami had shouted Carter's name when she and the rest of the squad saw the rocket but it had done no good, Carter could never have survived a hit like that. She ordered the men to head back down and check out the tank, which had gone silent. The street though, was not silent. Medics and tanks ran frantically back and forth, fixing damaging or patching up wounded soldiers.  
  
"Sami," Hawke's voice was on the radio," there are hardly any enemies here, meet us at the factory, it is time for a coup d'etat of Shuri."  
  
"All right," she said, still heading toward the tank. She gave various hand signals and the soldiers followed accordingly. They circled around the tank. Two went up on top, drawing their side arms instead of their RPG launchers. The hatch was unlocked. One pried it open and the other leapt in. Only one man was in the tank. A bullet hole had punctured the man's neck and blood had spilt out into the cockpit.a  
  
"It's clean," shouted the soldier who went it.  
  
"Shall we take it back to them," asked Sami. The soldiers chuckled and removed the tank's ex-pilot.  
  
***  
  
Asmodan and his men were pinned down in the main factory. As Asmodan was retreating back to the control room, he heard his name shouted.  
  
"Asmodan!" it was Hawke," I knew it was you behind this." Asmodan chuckled.  
  
"Here is not the place to resolve our differences," Asmodan said as he climbed the ladder to the control room. Hawke chased after Asmodan, his men quickly mopping up the Silver Meteor men who had been caught unprepared and off guard. Asmodan wasted no time in the control room and headed to the roof. Hawke followed, and Hawke was followed by a squad of his men.  
  
"Give it up," said Hawke," I won a long time ago." Asmodan laughed. He took off the glove on his right arm. Dozens of lines were etched in his flesh with knives and other medical marks were apparent.  
  
"Remember the experiment, the one that bestowed you with a power like the Black Storm?" asked Asmodan," Well I wasn't as much a failure as they thought I was…I have finally mastered my enhancements." Hawke's eyes widened. This was fear, thought Hawke. This crazed man, Asmodan, who had been part of the same program to enhance repressed mental capabilities had been dubbed drop out, and discarded. The experiment had given Hawke the Black Wave and Storm. He had been the only apparent success but if Asmodan had developed his potential after being discarded, it could be more powerful than Black Storm, thought Hawke.  
  
"Watch," said Asmodan. His eyes widened and his pupils shrunk. It was the true look of insanity.  
  
"The power of death is mine alone." 


	4. Korensky on the Horizon

Chapter 4: Korensky on the Horizon  
  
"The power of death is mine alone." There was nothing at first. Then, the ground around Asmodan shattered. The roof became uneven and sharp pieces of cement shrapnel were sent flying in all directions.  
  
"Stand fast men, this is just show!" yelled Hawke, bracing himself for what he assume was coming next. Asmodan's grin was ear to ear now. He reached up to his face and lowered the veil which revealed more medical lines and markings around his face. The lines and etches begin to glow white.  
  
"ZERO MATTER!"  
  
A series of opaque white waves emanated from Asmodan's body. He laughed maniacally. The waves began tearing up the building and flinging more shrapnel.  
  
"Sir! Dozens wounded on both sides, many dead, what the hell's going on up there?" Hawke was now guarding his face with one massive arm and reaching for the radio on his coat with other.  
  
"Enemy CO has used his CO ability, evacuate the men, retreat to base camp!" Hawke yelled.   
  
  
  
***  
  
A little ways down the road, Sami and her RPG squad could see the white waves flowing from the top of the factory.   
  
"What's that ma'am?" asked a soldier.  
  
"Don't know, enemy CO power?" she answered.   
  
It's like the Black Storm, she added mentally.  
  
"Keep moving, looks like Hawke needs a bit of help."  
  
***  
  
"Oh that idiot Asmodan," fumed a girl of no more than 5'6"," He knows not to use Zero Matter unless a med team is standing by, and did he take a med team? No." Hoping Fleres was finished ranting, Reletan cut in.  
  
"I'm sure he knows what he's doing," said Reletan. Reletan was wrapped in his favorite trench coat, a black turtle neck and black slacks. The ensemble efficiently hid the markings from the experiment he had been recruited for, like Asmodan and Hawke. Like the two, he was a Black Hole native, while his partner, Fleres, was a drop out of Green Earth's tactical academy. She had undergone no such experiment and as such had no hideous markings about her. She wore a skirt that stopped well above her knees, a blue tank top and a flashy silver vest, along with a long scarf.  
  
"Dressed for war are we?" Reletan chuckled. Fleres huffed.  
  
"Just 'cause you want to dress like a goth pretty boy doesn't mean everyone has to," Fleres shot back. Reletan laughed. He peered out the chopper's window.  
  
"Well look at that," he said, eyeing the smoke raising up from Shuri, about ten miles in the distance. A large white pillar was shining from the town.  
  
"Ah, looks like Asmodan has gone to work," said Fleres.  
  
***  
  
In less than a minute, the factory had caved in and the Black Hole troops had moved into retreat from Asmodan's Zero Matter attack. When one of the white waves caught a soldier, he was cut cleanly wherever it connected. Every soldier in the factory had been killed, both Silver Meteor and Black Hole. Asmodan had began to scream. Hawke assumed the Zero Matter hurt, since it was just wild energy flaying from Asmodan's body. It wasn't a controlled burst like the Black Storm was. Hawke dove out of the way as a Zero Matter wave carved up the ground where he had been standing.   
  
"Damn," Hawke growled," I didn't want to have to use this." Though hidden by his coat, his own marks from the experiment began to glow. Hawke's were more orderly and healed, since he had been deemed a success.   
  
"This is the end Asmodan!" As opposed to the wild energy bursts of Zero Matter, the Black Storm was quick and to the point. A huge black wave picked Asmodan off his feet and ended the Zero Matter attack. Several G's of strength pounded Asmodan's body as he was thrown thirty or forty feet north of the factory, in the direction of Korensky outpost. He lay motionless. The tank Sami had commandeered rolled up behind Hawke, who was down on one knee, recovering from the use of his CO power. The five soldiers who had accompanied Sami hopped off the tank.  
  
"Hawke! What happened here?" asked Sami, who had popped the hatch to the cockpit open.  
  
"Asmodan…used…CO power," Hawke gasped for air," powerful." He kneeled like this for several more seconds before rising to his feet.  
  
"I'm fine," he stated before Sami could ask if he needed help. The few Black Hole soldiers that weren't at base camp and hadn't died in the imploding factory formed around Hawke. One of Sami's men started the tank back up. The group headed to where Asmodan was lying. He was motionless, and covered in blood. Hawke reached into his coat and removed a 9mm. He aimed down at Asmodan. He reached slowly for the trigger, his limbs still weak from the force of Zero Matter and from using his own CO power. Hawke pulled the trigger.  
  
***  
  
Locke stepped out of the forest, glad to be rid of the vines and branches. Lash and Andy followed closely behind, then Nell and Max. As expected, a dozen Orange Star tanks waited at the other end. They were oriented in a circle and something of a camp had been set up in the middle. The CO's and their troops walked wearily into the center where they were greeted by the rest of the Orange Star convoy. To Nell's surprise, nearly a dozen Silver Meteor troops had been taken hostage.  
  
"Ma'am!" an Orange Star soldier was running to Nell," We got some intel you may want. Locke too." Nell and Locke, though tired, headed over to the circle of prisoners.  
  
"They were busy talking about their CO's when you guys showed up," the soldier said. Locke was instantly more interested in staying awake a little longer. The soldier lead Nell and Locke to the Silver Meteor troop of highest rank.  
  
"Tell them what you were telling us," the soldier ordered.  
  
"Right away milady," the Silver Meteor troop quipped. The Orange Star soldier became visibly angry. The Silver Meteor troop knew the soldier's superior hadn't have been there he would have gotten punched. Merrick Levitan had already filed that particular Orange Star soldier under "worthless".   
  
"You are Nell and Locke I am assuming?" Merrick asked.  
  
"Yeah that's us," Locke answered.  
  
"Indeed, I have a disdain for relaying information to nobodies," Merrick said. Locke assumed Merrick was of a decently high ranking position to speak like that. Merrick's uniform pants had a tear in them and he had lost his jacket in the woods. His hair, usually pulled back into a pony tail that was tied at the base of his neck was dirty and uncombed.   
  
"So what's your story," asked Nell.  
  
"Oh, I'm a Tactical Officer, like a CO in training," said Merrick.  
  
"Age?" asked Nell.  
  
"Sixteen," said Merrick. Nell jotted this down in a notebook along with other things Merrick told her, height and weight for example.  
  
"What does a Tactical Officer do?" asked Nell.  
  
"To be blunt, TO's run paper work during the week and play the simulators and attend lectures on the weekends," Merrick said.  
  
"You're an intern?" asked Locke.  
  
"Does Orange Star admit CO's purely on their observational skills?" quipped Merrick. Locke frowned. Merrick was good at getting under peoples' skin.  
  
"Tell us about the full fledged CO's," said Nell.  
  
"Ok, first and least, there's Fleres. She's usually to busy flirting to keep her head in the game, even I can beat her in simulators. Next is Reletan, he dresses real dark like and thinks he's more tortured than everyone else, or something, his CO power involves changing the landscape or so I hear. Lastly there's Asmodan, he's a strange fellow, keeps to himself, only guy on the base Fleres won't flirt with." Locke considered what to ask next.  
  
"So who are we up against?"  
  
"Well, I came in Asmodan's group, Fleres and Reletan were busy but they could be en route now," said Merrick.  
  
"So where is the resistance operating from?" asked Nell.  
  
"Oh I couldn't tell you that, it would ruin Silver Meteor's fun," said Merrick.  
  
"Ma'am!" a soldier yelled from across the camp," Hawke and Sami on the line!"  
  
"I'll get it," said Locke. Locke jogged over to the soldier and took the field radio.  
  
"Locke," he said.  
  
"Hawke here, we lost Silver Meteor CO Asmodan, I was ready to put a bullet in him and a copter showed up. They pulled Asmodan out and retreated, we are en route to Korensky from Shuri, will you meet us there?"  
  
"Yeah," said Locke," we'll move out in the morning." Locke made his way back to Nell.  
  
"Hawke and Sami fought this Asmodan character, he got away, but barely so Hawke tells it," said Locke.  
  
"Oh, did they get to see Zero Matter?" asked Merrick. The POW had been un-cuffed and was sitting cross legged eating some bread and soup.  
  
"Zero Matter?" asked Nell.  
  
"It's Asmodan's power, blows stuff up real nice like, hard to fight in the simulators," Merrick said in between bites.  
  
"Don't know, we move out in the morning, make sure you're soldiers are ready for walking," said Locke.  
  
"You heard him men, more of the same tomorrow," Merrick said. Merrick fell asleep sitting up, apparently it was a practiced routine.  
  
"Tell camp to bunk down," said Locke to Nell," they'll need their sleep if we are going to make it to Korensky by any time tomorrow."  
  
"Right," Nell said, spreading the order to her commanders.   
  
***  
  
"Well Hawke gave you a beating," said Reletan. Asmodan lay stretched out in the chopper, his Kevlar vest and under shirt replaced by bandages. The only response Asmodan could muster was raising his middle finger.  
  
"Oh quaint," said Reletan.  
  
"The battle at Korensky will determine if the rebellion will have footing or if it will be a dud," said Fleres.  
  
"No, if Merrick succeeds in his mission, the outcome of Korensky will be irrelevant," said Reletan. A grin came over Asmodan's colorless face at the mention of Merrick's mission.  
  
***  
  
Merrick stood up. He slid out of the rope he had been tied in to sleep and prevent any kind of escape. Whoever had tied the rope was no good and escaping was child's play. The rest of the camp was sleeping. He proceeded to one of the Orange Star soldiers. He withdrew a knife he had hidden and sliced the man's throat. He took the man's rifle and headed off into the forest. After several minutes of searching he found what he was looking for. He opened his black carry bag and withdrew his jacket. He put it on to shield from the night's cold. Inside was a computer and a small box. Merrick smiled at the bomb and began his journey for the Orange Star capital. He passed over tank treads and past the bodies of Silver Meteor and Orange Star troops alike. He smiled again and let the wind blow his hair. 


End file.
